Businesses that utilize substantial quantities of petroleum fuels such as heating oil and gas must contend with the high cost of such fuels and the wide price fluctuations that are typically experienced. For the most part, these businesses have little or no control over the cost of petroleum fuels. A number of factors contribute to this problem. First, geopolitics throughout the world has a tremendous influence on the price of petroleum fuels, and in some cases, its availability. Severe weather conditions can also impact the cost of petroleum fuels. Moreover, the continued consumption of petroleum fuels reduce the amounts of petroleum that can be economically recovered, and with the growing demands for oil by countries such as China and India, the price and availability of conventional petroleum fuels such as oil and gas is uncertain.
The cost of conventional petroleum fuel has caused oil-consuming businesses to look at alternative approaches. For example, it is known to use wood to cure and dry tobacco. In the case of curing and drying tobacco, it is known to burn wood to heat water in a water tank, and the hot water is directed to heat exchangers that effectively heat air used in curing and drying the tobacco. However, one of the major problems with utilizing wood, for example, is the time and effort required to repeatedly load the fire chamber.
Wood is a readily available fuel source in many locations. In some cases there is an opportunity to utilize wood that is unsuitable for being processed at sawmills or other processing facilities because the wood includes nails, steel spikes, and other foreign structures. In many cases, wood unsuitable for conventional processes can be procured in a very cost-effective manner. In these cases, wood is even more economical than conventional petroleum fuels.